Two Bengal poll officials assaulted in Odisha village over child-lifting rumour

Two officials deputed for electoral roll revision work in West Bengal were assaulted by villagers in Odisha’s Balasore district after being mistaken for child-lifters.

Balasore (Odisha): Two officials deputed for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal by mistake had entered a village in neighbouring Odisha’s Balasore district and were assaulted by locals over suspicion of being members of a child-lifting gang, police said on Friday.

The incident took place on Wednesday when the two officials entered a village in Raibania police station area in Balasore district, which shares a border with West Bengal, the police said.

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According to the police, the two officials were deputed as micro-observers for SIR work and were supposed to visit a village in Nayagram block in West Bengal, but had entered the bordering village in Odisha by ‘mistake’ as their hired auto-rickshaw could not locate the exact destination village where they were supposed to go.

The local people suspected them of being members of a child-lifting gang and assaulted them, the police said.

Getting information, the local police rushed to the spot, but the mob obstructed them from doing their duty and even manhandled the police team. After some time, the police rescued the two officials from the mob.

Balasore Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Niranjan Behera said to PTI over phone on Friday that two cases have been registered against the law violators and 72 people have been arrested so far, while a search is on to nab others involved in the incident.

Inspector in charge of Raibania police station, Champabati Soren, said the two SIR officials were admitted to Raibania hospital and discharged from the hospital the same day.